Photo: Courtesy of the Bermuda Sun
Born this month
L. Frederick Wade
June 28, 1939-August 13, 1996
Lawyer, parliamentarian and Opposition Leader Frederick “Freddy” Wade died two years before the Progressive Labour Party’s first general election victory.
But Wade had laid the groundwork by rebuilding a party that was decimated by a bitter split in 1985.
Wade joined the PLP in 1963, the year it was founded. He was first elected to Parliament in 1968, representing Devonshire North, and served the party in numerous capacities during its long years in opposition.
He was initially trained as a teacher, but had to give up his teaching career upon being elected to Parliament. He worked as a taxi driver, a dockworker and in construction to support his family, but he eventually retrained as a lawyer.
He was elected party leader in 1985 and imposed his vision of unity on the PLP’s divided and demoralised ranks. He also reached out to the business community, which was skittish about the prospect of a PLP government. Under his leadership, the PLP came the closest it had ever come to winning an election winning 18 seats to the United Bermuda Party’s 22 in 1993.
Health problems, including kidney disease, took their toll. Wade collapsed and died on his doorstep as he was leaving his home for the airport to attend a Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Malaysia. He was only 57. In April 2007, Bermuda's airport was renamed the L. Frederick Wade International Airport.
A full biography of L. Frederick Wade will appear shortly. In the meantime, check out the biographies of other politicians, including Sir Henry Tucker, Government leader in 1968, the year Mr. Wade was first elected to Parliament, and Dr. E. F. Gordon, the inspiration for the men who founded the PLP.
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This month in history
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Bermudians’ passion for air travel first took flight 70 years ago this month, with the inauguration of the first commercial passenger service between Bermuda and New York.
On June 16, 1937, Imperial Airways flying ship Cavalier left Darrell’s Island seaplane base at 10:35am—35 minutes behind schedule—for Port Washington, Long Island, New York, with 14 passengers and a crew of five.
Less than an hour later, Pan American’s flying ship Bermuda Clipper took off from Darrell’s Island in preparation for its first passenger flight in the opposition direction on June 18.
Cavalier’s inaugural flight took five hours and 40 minutes and Bermuda Clipper made it to Port Washington in five hours and 47 minutes.
Bermuda globe-trotters never looked back.
Sources: The Royal Gazette, June 17, 1937 and
Bermuda: Five Centuries by Rosemary Jones
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Pan Am’s Bermuda Clipper at Darrell’s Island airbase in 1937. Below, 1930s travel poster.
Photo: Courtesy of the Bermuda Maritime Museum. Poster: Courtesy of the Bermuda Archives
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In the News
Tributes pour in for Dame Lois
Tributes poured in after the death of Dame Lois Browne-Evans, Bermuda’s pioneering politician and lawyer. Dame Lois, Bermuda’s first female lawyer and female Opposition Leader, died on May 29, three days before her 80th birthday on June 1.She played a key role in Bermuda’s turbulent transition to an integrated and democratic society in which ordinary Bermudian had a voice and a vote.
Bermuda came to a standstill on the day of her funeral on June 5, which was declared a public holiday.
One of Dame Lois’ last public engagements was at a ceremony in April, when the airport was renamed after her former running mate and law firm partner, L. Frederick Wade.
She told the gathering: “Bermudians have a bad way of forgetting the sacrifices made by some people and I'm so glad Dr. Brown (the premier) has agreed to name this place the L.F. Wade International Airport.”
See this Bermuda Sun article about the life of Dame Lois by Bermuda Biographies editor Meredith Ebbin. A full biography of Dame Lois will appear on Bermuda Biographies shortly.
The Spirit of Bermuda at Fort Sumter, South Carolina in May.
Photo: Courtesy Bermuda Sloop Foundation.
Spirit sails to Virginia
The sail training sloop, Spirit of Bermuda, is off to Norfolk, Virginia, this month to take part in a Tall Ship Festival and a naval review.
The ship left Bermuda on June 1 and will return on June 17. While there, its crew of 16 teenagers and young adults will pay a visit to Jamestown, Virginia, which is celebrating the 400th anniversary of its settlement by English colonists.
The Spirit, which sailed to Charleston, South Carolina on its first overseas voyage in May with a crew of 25, is a training vessel launched last year with the goal of providing young people with opportunities for character development and technical training.
It also seeks to enhance young Bermudians’ understanding of their maritime history. In the 18th century, Bermuda sloops were famous throughout the Atlantic world for their lightness and speed.
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